Gallery

CONCEPT

“It may sound naive, but I think that for all its failings, the world of art and culture is still the only one where something like that can be done (...) The media can’t do it anymore; they’ve become a vulgar business like any other. The world of culture - museums and universities - is the last place where you are still free to dream of a better world (...) .” (Alfredo Jaar, Conversations in Chile, 2005, Mistral, Santiago, ACTAR, Barcelona 2006, p. 80. )

The emphasis of the gallery's program is to represent a wide range of artists, who address the geopolitics of the Balkans, the Middle East, Italy, Germany and eventually new territories in a transcultural perspective. Pierre Andre Podbielski established Podbielski Contemporary in January 2011 in the heart of Berlin, Mitte. The opening show “Moving Worlds” featured Yael Bartana, Adrian Paci, Paola Yacoub, Lidwien van de Ven and Danica Dakic and was introduced by an essay by Griselda Pollock. The show was a strong declaration of intent: Podbielski Contemporary's main focus is to document political and geopolitical issues seen from an artistic perspective.

Podbielski Contemporary seeks to promote, besides exhibitions, catalogues designed and published for each show and to address its work to international private and museum collections. Its founder strongly believes that a gallery, besides representing artists and promoting their works in the optimal way, should serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas about art and culture.

Podbielski Contemporary aims to merge art dealing activities with academic research, presenting special events such as artists talks, performances, conferences and screening evenings, to become not only a lively space for art lovers and art collectors, but also a cultural destination for young scholars and for the Berlin art community in general. May its small-scale intervention help sustain wider efforts in overcoming the compartmentalization of the art field between public and private institutions.

TEAM

PIERRE ANDRÉ PODBIELSKI
the founder of Podbielski Contemporary,
describes himself a citizen of the world.
Of Polish and German descent (father was Prussian raised in Berlin, mother Polish raised in Vienna),
born in Geneva and bearing an Australian passport, he is fluent in french, german and italian.
A qualified architect (Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris), a passionate collector, he has become an art dealer
and an active partner of Galleria Rubin from 2001 to 2009 -his main area of expertise was abstract painting,
photography and site specific commissions.
His participation in numerous fairs (Art Cologne, Artefiera Bologna, Miart, Preview Berlin) has allowed him to establish a qualified network of contacts among artists, galleries, curators and collectors. In order to best consolidate such acquired experience and face new challenges, he has launched Podbielski Contemporary in Summer 2011.

MARTINA BURGWINKEL
is Gallery Manager
at Podbielski Contemporary since spring 2014.
She studied in Bonn and earned a M.A. degree
in art history, German philology and cultural anthropology.

JANA NIKOLAI
is Gallery Assistant
at Podbielski Contemporary since spring 2015.
After working in financial sector for several years she studied
Communication in Social and Economic Contexts (UdK Berlin)
and since then worked for several organizations in financial, social and cultural sector.